This is a beautifully realized and thoughtfully told graphic novel. Quentin Zuttion tells a subtle story about identity, growing up, growing old, and dying, through nuanced dialogue and evocative images of characters in deep thought. This one will stay with me for a while.

5 beautiful, deep, beautifully-illustrated stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing a digital copy for review~

I knew prior to reading that this wouldn't be a lighthearted comic in the slightest. Once I started reading this one I was fully invested and couldn't put it down - it was read right through in one sitting.

Estelle is a nurse at an assisted living center, and she truly cares for her patients and assuring they are as comfortable as possible there. The closer she gets to her patients, the more she seems to lose her sense of self.

This was touching, beautiful, dark and deep, and definitely tear-jerking at times. Get your tissues ready! A read on what it means to be an end-of-life caretaker and the lives that are touched along the way.

*reviewed by uncorrected eARC*

graphic fiction, translated from French (themes of death/grief, euthanasia, Alzheimer's, dementia, some nudity). A nurse in an assisted living home cares a lot about her patients, perhaps too much; ruminations on end-of-life care and dying with dignity.

This follows a nurse who works in a care home, particularly focusing on people with Alzheimer’s. Beautiful imagery and a beautiful story with it all coming full circle at the end.

Nurse Estelle works in an assisted living centre. She cares for the residents and, in her way, comes to love them, no matter how difficult they may be. Seeing their dreams left unfilled and their lonely final moments wear her down so she has to find ways to raise her spirits.

This is a nice graphic novel, exploring a story not typically presented in this format. It combines the hardships, poignant moments and humorous times in a way that feels honest. I didn't find it the most emotive of stories but it's a good read.

Throughout, many blue shades are used, conveying the tone of the story, with just the odd insert of colour to show the shift in mood. It's a very loose art style which, while lovely aesthetically, at times made it difficult to distinguish the elements in the illustrations.

Thank you to Netgalley and EuropeComics for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The White Lady by Quentin Zuttion is a breathtaking look at the importance of medical and support staff in end of life facilities. The graphic novel follows Estelle, a nurse at a senior care center, through her daily ministrations to the sick and dying. The artwork is beautiful in its simplicity with a limited color palette that is soothing but pointed in what parts of the story it highlights. I loved the empathy and compassion shown by several of the characters as they cared for their patients. The lines between love, loss, care, and fear are all blurred as we meet and then leave each new character. I think the author and illustrator did a wonderful job of expressing how difficult yet fulfilling working in patient care can be. The sparks of each patients personality made a lasting impression on Estelle and therefore also on the reader. The conclusion of the story was the perfect full circle of life and left me satisfied despite The White Lady being such an emotional tale. On a personal note, I recently experienced the Hospice Care and subsequent deaths of several family members and this book accurately portrays the barrage of emotions we faced each day during their care. End of life caretakers have a special place in my heart and The White Lady helped me to appreciate them even more.

Five Stars for fantastic artwork and beautiful, empathetic story about the circle of life.

The artwork is gentle, almost whimsical as it depicts a story about the elderly residents of a care home. Estelle, is one of their nurses and she interacts with the residents in their last days, seeking to find ways to respond to their needs and their unfulfilled dreams.

All of this has an impact on her life as she seeks to remember these people in her care. This contrasts with the families of the residents, some of whom, struggle as their family members change both physically and mentally. It is a moving story which is illustrated in a beautiful way. In a way it is sad but at the same time hopeful as we see the residents journeying to the end of their lives with dignity and grace, supported by those who care for them.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

The White Lady tells the story of a nurse working in a nursing home and the various seniors she comes into contact with. The story was an unexpected one for me, this wasn't a topic I'd really ever thought about and so I was quite intrigued by the events and feeling depicted here. I found the story to be quite an emotional one, filled with a nice range of colorful memorable characters. The elderly in the story felt very real and that helped create a sense of true sorrow and empathy for the main characters who see them come and see them go sadly.

I know some of the other reviews have been critical of the overly simplified style of art in this graphic novel but I must say I enjoyed it a lot. The simplicity of the monochromatic blue style made it so that when the art did incorporate colors (in the clubbing scenes or the field of flowers) they really popped out of the screen and created the sense of another world, stepping out of the nursing home.

I also have to comment on the ending (no spoilers, obviously), I'm not sure if I liked it or if I felt it was missing something, a sense of resolution maybe, but I can't deny the beauty of ending in that manner, quite a fascinating choice.

Overall, it's a very touching graphic novel on a probably unconventional topic and I'll definitely recommend picking it up (it is quite sad though so ... be warned!). While I did like it, I do feel the first half is not as strong as the second half as the story takes a bit too long to "get going" and that its main character is not that well-developed (especially in the beginning) and so, all of this kind of prevented me from loving it. Still, check it out!

3.5/5

I'd like to thank NetGalley as well as the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book!

The White Lady follows a young nurse, Estelle, as she finds herself getting more and more invested in the lives of the old residents at her job in an old age home. The book sticks to a fairly monochromatic palette of blues with an occasional splash of color here and there.

You see Estelle care for a number of residents—even welcoming a new one—and watch as she navigates what it means to be a "good" and "ethical" healthcare professional when the people you are caring for are at the end of their lives. After all, ethics taught in class often leave little space for the blurred lines of reality, where patients exhibit more personality and humanity than the stand-in figures seen in philosophical exercises.

Over the course of the book, you see Estelle as she loses herself in her job more and more, each page showing her sink further into the residents bit by bit. But it's not an unhinged kind of spiraling, you can tell that this has been building up for years, has bled into other parts of her life as well. As you read this, you're thinking, "Wow, I could see this happening to me. I think this could drive anyone a little nuts."

Which is why I find myself quite unsatisfied with the ending. It's not a bad ending by any means; if anything, I think it makes a lot of sense and is rather sweet. However, it just felt so rushed and abrupt. I won't spoil anything but like, I wanted to see more of Estelle's spiral, I wanted to see how and where she would draw a line, if she could even do so. Because that was the core of the story for me and I think it's also where the book shines best, so having that cut to the ending—seemingly out of nowhere—was jarring and left me feeling a lot of regret and sadness for how much more this could have been.

I don't know, I'm just really unsatisfied with the pacing which SUCKS cos I really do think it's a good story with endearing characters. There were also quite a few panels that I think will stick to me for quite some time, the art itself is gorgeous. Despite my complaints, I would still recommend giving this book a try. Regardless of how you feel about the pacing or the ending, I think you'll find yourself thinking about it long after you're done with it.

I received the arc through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for the chance.

I didn't know exactly what to expect about the plot with this graphic novel however, I'm so glad to have read it. Although it was hard for me to read it in one go since it touches rather fresh emotional wounds on a personal level, it is a quick read yet so meaningful.

Through this graphic novel, we meet Estelle who is a nurse working in a nursing home mostly for elderly patients. The reader gets to see an entire new point of view over grief and the painful realization of growing older and how life can go and come in just a blink; all that, through the eyes of a nurse and how much it affects them in so many levels even if most of the times their own mental struggles and exhaustion tends to be disregarded when talking about this very topic.

Now, about the graphics themselves, the illustrations style was precise and so well done specially according to the message tying to convey. In that same sense, the color scheme also reflected the harshness of the emotions our characters go through.

The one thing I would say took away from the story was the font. Not exactly the style of the font by itself but sometimes it made it hard to understand certain words breaking the flow of the story telling.

TW:
Death, grief, emotional exhaustion.

This book is quite tragically beautiful. This story offers a brand new viewpoint when it comes to people in nursing homes. The writing does a great job of showing the exhaustion and emotions these nurses experience on a regular basis. It makes it easier to empathize with them. The art works perfectly with the story. The blue colors highlight the grief, with color and style changes emphasizing scenes with stronger feelings.

This is my 3rd ever graphic novel.

This one is about Estelle who works in a care home for the elderly.

She grows attached to some of the people living there and how she deals with their deaths.

I enjoyed the story, but it did get a bit confusing towards the end. The illustrations were ok, but I didn't really like the colour theme. It was mainly blue and white and felt quite cold. There were a few illustrations that had bright flowers in them. I would have preferred if most of them were like this.

Not my favourite graphic novel so far - 2.5/5 stars

Really beautiful story, all about life and death and grief.

The White Lady is an Adult graphic novel about a nurse, Estelle, who works in a nursing home. She takes care of the elderly just before they pass away and after many years in the profession, the job starts to take a toll on her as she thinks about human mortality and deals with the grief of seeing death daily.

I really loved all the characters and the way they fit into the narrative of this novel. Each one served a different purpose and I really enjoyed that and I loved the relationships between the characters, be they friends, family, lovers or the nurses with their patients.

Also, I loved the art style. I read some people say they did not like the font as it was a bit hard to read which I would agree with, the font could have been slightly adjusted for a better reading experience but the art was gorgeous, the blue-grey watercolour with splashes of colour now and again was exquisite and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book, especially to people who are just getting into graphic novels (like myself) who are looking for ones that aren't juvenile fiction.

Such a touching graphic novel. It really makes you reflect on the subject of care homes and careworkers. Loved it!

The White Lady follows a nurse Estelle who works as an assistance living center. She takes care of the elderly who cannot take care of themselves. This story is about loss, and loneliness.

Overall this was a decent story. I liked the art well enough and the plot was interesting. The one complaint I have with it is the text. The font/writing is very grainy which makes it hard to read at times. While that didn't change the plot graphic novels are half art/visual effects. Had the font been clearer I could have enjoyed this more.

trigger warnings: Alzheimer's, assisted suicide, elder deaths, funeral, grief, nursing homes, suicidal ideation

representation: women, elderly folks, lesbian/sapphic/wlw, various disabilities and such in relation to age (Alzheimer's, bed-wetting, and cane and wheelchair users)

It took me a bit to enjoy the art as it's not the typical graphic novel style I'm used to, but, shortly into the story, it flowed perfectly with every page.

The main character is exactly who I would be in if I had her job. She loves every person she works with and collects little things to remember those who have passed. She does what she can to ensure her patients are happy and comfortable, including defying the orders of a family, sort of catfishing someone into thinking he's talking to his grandchild and promising to help a patient escape into the flowers.

If you're a fan of this, I recommend Forget Me Not by Alix Garin. It's also published by Europe Comics, deals with nursing homes, elderly folks, wanting to escape, and has a strong family bond between a grandmother and her queer grandchild.

The White Lady is a short story about death and loss told through the eyes of a nurse caring for elderly patients. A decent but short graphic novel, the art style was beautiful and fit the theme well and I loved the use of colour as part of the storytelling. My only issue is the font was difficult to read at times

Thanks to Europe comics for giving me the ARC through Netgalley in exchange of a honest review.

The White Lady is a poignant graphic novel that explores the imminent physical and psychological frailty of humans when closer to their last ages of their life. Told from the perspective of a nurse that cares too much about the elderly people of the nursing home and eventually is affected by the constant grief and death surrounding the place.

This story portrays in a very respectful and down to earth way the ambient of a nursing home, the different personalities of the elders, their struggles, and the different ways the nurses deal with grief and how they see their work.

One can argue that Stelle's behavior is unprofessional, but isn't it dehumanizing to expect a nurse being full cold hearted when they spend years taking care of people that depend completely of them?

Quentin Zuttion's artstyle is what I call 'very French' with loose lines, and simple yet charming watercolors. The ethereal atmosphere fits the story very well.

I must admit that I only picked this up because it reminded me of a friend who has the same work as the main character, however I'm pleasantly surprised with what a good read this turned out to be.

I love the colors and the art style a lot. It reflects a lot of the atmosphere of the story which I think is very important with graphic novels. So many artists draw over-the-art while not paying mind if it matches with the story. But I find that I did not have such problems while reading this particular one. Very touching and quick read.

Although is a quick read, it's also a very deep one. It brought tears to my eyes. That was beautiful and melancholic.
Choosing the color blue was very smart, it definitely helped to maximize the sadness feeling on the story.

I'm glad I read this, it's very emotional and made me think about people and life in general. Also, very nice to enfatize the feeling of nurses, I don't think we think about it as often.

The only thing that annoyed me a bit was the grainy text. But in general, I really enjoyed it.